Detection rules › YARA-L

New User Created Via Net.EXE

Severity
medium
Type
Detection
Time window
5m
Match by
hostname
Source
github.com/chronicle/detection-rules

Identifies the creation of local users via the net.exe command

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
PersistenceT1136.001 Create Account: Local Account

References

Event coverage

Rule body yaral

/*
 * Copyright 2025 Google LLC
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

rule new_user_created_via_net_exe {

  meta:
    author = "Endgame, JHasenbusch (adapted to Sigma for oscd.community)"
    description = "Identifies the creation of local users via the net.exe command"
    reference = "https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_net_user_add.yml"
    license = "https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License/blob/main/LICENSE.Detection.Rules.md"
    rule_name = "New User Created Via Net.EXE"
    sigma_uuid = "cd219ff3-fa99-45d4-8380-a7d15116c6dc"
    sigma_status = "test"
    rule_id = "mr_c5c37a7b-d892-4592-a726-b0dbb45c1e55"
    tactic = "TA0003"
    technique = "T1136.001"
    type = "Detection"
    data_source = "Sysmon"
    platform = "Windows"
    severity = "Medium"
    priority = "Medium"
    false_positives = "Legitimate user creation. Better use event IDs for user creation rather than command line rules."

  events:
    $process.metadata.event_type = "PROCESS_LAUNCH"
    (
        re.regex($process.target.process.file.full_path, `net(|1)\.exe$`) nocase or
        $process.src.process.file.full_path = "net.exe" nocase or
        $process.src.process.file.full_path = "net1.exe" nocase
    )
    (
        strings.contains(strings.to_lower($process.target.process.command_line), "user") and
        strings.contains(strings.to_lower($process.target.process.command_line), "add")
    )
    $process.principal.hostname = $hostname

  match:
    $hostname over 5m

   outcome:
    //example usage of specifying test user and hostname to adjust risk score
    $risk_score = max(if($process.principal.user.userid = "user" and $process.principal.hostname = "hostname", 0, 15))
    $principal_process_pid = array_distinct($process.principal.process.pid)
    $principal_process_command_line = array_distinct($process.principal.process.command_line)
    $principal_process_file_sha256 = array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.sha256)
    $principal_process_file_full_path = array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.full_path)
    $principal_process_product_specfic_process_id = array_distinct($process.principal.process.product_specific_process_id)
    $principal_process_parent_process_product_specfic_process_id = array_distinct($process.principal.process.parent_process.product_specific_process_id)
    $target_process_pid = array_distinct($process.target.process.pid)
    $target_process_command_line = array_distinct($process.target.process.command_line)
    $target_process_file_sha256 = array_distinct($process.target.process.file.sha256)
    $target_process_file_full_path = array_distinct($process.target.process.file.full_path)
    $target_process_product_specfic_process_id = array_distinct($process.target.process.product_specific_process_id)
    $principal_user_userid = array_distinct($process.principal.user.userid)
    $log_type = array_distinct(strings.concat($process.metadata.log_type,"/",$process.metadata.product_event_type))

  condition:
    $process
}

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: match + condition

match:
    $hostname over 5m
condition:
    $process

Fires when at least one $process event in the 5m window.

Stage 1: events: $process · PROCESS_LAUNCH

$process.metadata.event_type = "PROCESS_LAUNCH"
(
    re.regex($process.target.process.file.full_path, `net(|1)\.exe$`) nocase or
    $process.src.process.file.full_path = "net.exe" nocase or
    $process.src.process.file.full_path = "net1.exe" nocase
)
(
    strings.contains(strings.to_lower($process.target.process.command_line), "user") and
    strings.contains(strings.to_lower($process.target.process.command_line), "add")
)
$process.principal.hostname = $hostname

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

FieldKindValues
src.process.file.full_patheq
  • net.exe transforms: nocase
  • net1.exe transforms: nocase
target.process.command_linecontains
  • add transforms: tolower corpus 36 (sigma 28, splunk 4, chronicle 2, kusto 2)
  • user transforms: tolower corpus 16 (sigma 10, splunk 4, chronicle 2)
target.process.file.full_pathregex_match
  • net(|1).exe$ transforms: nocase

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

FieldSource
risk_scoremax(if($process.principal.user.userid = "user" and $process.principal.hostname = "hostname", 0, 15))
principal_process_pidarray_distinct($process.principal.process.pid)
principal_process_command_linearray_distinct($process.principal.process.command_line)
principal_process_file_sha256array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.sha256)
principal_process_file_full_patharray_distinct($process.principal.process.file.full_path)
principal_process_product_specfic_process_idarray_distinct($process.principal.process.product_specific_process_id)
principal_process_parent_process_product_specfic_process_idarray_distinct($process.principal.process.parent_process.product_specific_process_id)
target_process_pidarray_distinct($process.target.process.pid)
target_process_command_linearray_distinct($process.target.process.command_line)
target_process_file_sha256array_distinct($process.target.process.file.sha256)
target_process_file_full_patharray_distinct($process.target.process.file.full_path)
target_process_product_specfic_process_idarray_distinct($process.target.process.product_specific_process_id)
principal_user_useridarray_distinct($process.principal.user.userid)
log_typearray_distinct(strings.concat($process.metadata.log_type,"/",$process.metadata.product_event_type))